Kings at Knicks
The Sacramento Kings are piling up frustrating losses over the last few weeks, and the players and coaching staff are beginning to get fed up with the results. The New York Knicks, who host the Kings on Sunday, are trending in the opposite direction after securing a pair of tight wins over the Minnesota Timberwolves to sweep a home-and-home set.
Sacramento is 3-6 over its last nine games but only one of those losses was by double figures, including a 97-92 setback at Boston on Friday. "We've got to look ourselves in the mirror and hold ourselves accountable," Kings star center DeMarcus Cousins told reporters. "If you know you're not giving 100 percent at the beginning of the game, you're the issue - myself and everybody else in this room included. So it's on us." The Knicks pulled above .500 at 10-9 with a 118-114 win at home on Friday that featured 29 points from Carmelo Anthony. The All-Star forward was locked in a shooting slump until burying the game-winning jumper in Wednesday's 106-104 win over the Timberwolves, and he knocked down five 3-pointers on Friday.
TV: 7:30 p.m. ET, CSN California (Sacramento), MSG (New York)
ABOUT THE KINGS (7-12): Sacramento shot 37.9 percent from the field in Friday's loss, including 6-of-26 from 3-point range. "We take bad shots sometimes, and it ticks me off at bad times," Kings coach Dave Joerger told reporters. "(It's) stuff we know we've got to get better at. We know we're not a bunch of rookies. We can get better. We'll keep plugging away." Cousins went 10-of-26 from the floor on Friday and finished with 28 points to end a string of four straight games scoring over 30.
ABOUT THE KNICKS (10-9): New York signed center Joakim Noah to a four-year, $72 million free-agent contract over the summer but is so far receiving a disappointing return on investment that includes averages of four points and 8.1 rebounds in 15 games. Noah sat out the last two games with an injured left ankle, giving Kyle O'Quinn the chance to take his place in the middle. O'Quinn delivered two points and eight rebounds in 18 minutes on Wednesday but exploded for season highs of 20 points on 9-of-11 shooting and 13 boards in Friday's game and told reporters afterward that he has "a chip on my shoulder" and is looking for more.
BUZZER BEATERS
1. Knicks SG Courtney Lee (ankle) sat out Friday and is day-to-day.
2. Kings SF Matt Barnes is 4-of-20 from 3-point range in the last five games.
3. Sacramento took both meetings last season by a total of 10 points.